It’s a beautiful weekend with temperatures in the high 70s – unfortunately I think this is going to be the last hurrah. The next two weeks will be a spiral down to the low 60s and we all know that it can snow on Halloween in Minnesota. One of our big priorities is setting up the indoor living quarters for the koi. They will need to come out of the ponds by Thanksgiving at the latest and will remain indoors until late April. We think we’ll be setting up a 12′ diameter swimming pool in the garage for them. Last winter we were going to have the koi stay outdoors but after two frozen koi we brought them all in…the pond digger worked some long hours setting up indoor tanks in pretty miserable weather. We’re not going to repeat that experience.

All of the koi except for Nora (the new shiro utsuri) continue to eat fairly well. Nora clearly does not like Kenzen food. I think in the last week she has only tried about ten pellets. I’m hoping she ends her hunger strike soon. I did move the two little goshikis and the little kikokuryu back to the upper pond. I noticed that the little hariwake that was purchased at the same time was looking significantly bigger than these three in the lower pond. I think hanging around the koi who like to eat will be better for them. So now my lower pond has four good eaters and a large picky eater. The koi in the upper pond have some clear food preferences – some like the floating Breeder’s Choice and others like the sinking pellets.

The outdoor gardens are being cut back, mulched for the fall and it won’t be long until I am forced to put nets over the ponds. The leaves are still green but they always seem to turn overnight and fall endlessly. The squirrels have already been very busy throwing acorns in the pond and the pace will only pick up. We are still thinking about how to cover the filtration equipment pits and we’ve tossed around ideas like a raised deck, a decorative shed, a decorative low profile roof, etc. I’m hoping we decide and complete it before winter arrives.

Took a break from gardening to film the ponds: